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Seattle Mariners

Mariners Pregame: Saturday in the park, lineups and starters

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Sam Gaviglio throws against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning on June 19, 2017, in Seattle. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

Game 77: The Seattle Mariners (39-37) host the Houston Astros (50-25) in the second of a three-game series at 7:10 p.m. at Safeco Field.

The Mariners won their sixth straight on Friday, clobbering three home run and riding the return of Felix Hernandez to down the Astros 13-3.

Hernandez went six innings and allowed three runs on eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts.

Mike Zunino hit a 3-run homer on Friday and has 29 RBIs this month. Only 10 players in Mariners history have had 30-plus RBIs in a calendar month. Mike Blowers and Edgar Martinez share the record with 33 in Aug. 1995.

The Astros will bring Lance McCullers Jr. off the disabled list for the start. McCullers was bothered by lower back stiffness, but was one of the A.L.’s top starters the first six weeks of the season.

Lineups and starters

Courtesy @MarinersPR
Courtesy @MarinersPR

Starters: RHP Sam Gaviglio (3-1, 3.43) vs. RHP Lance McCullers (6-1, 2.58)

Mariners Notes

  • Seattle has scored 166 runs in its last 26 games, an average of 6.38 runs per game in that span. During this stretch, Seattle is hitting .305 with 35 home runs, a .365 on-base mark and an .846 OPS
  • In the 16 games before this run, Seattle was 4-12 and hit .205 with 36 runs, an average of 2.25 runs per game.
  • After scoring 13 runs on Friday, the Mariners are now averaging 4.97 runs per game (378 total runs) for the season, and are third in the A.L. in runs, trailing only Houston (5.48 rpg) and New York (5.65 rpg).

This Day in Mariners History

In 1997, Randy Johnson sets an A.L. record for strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher after he K’s 19 Athletics in a 4-1 loss vs. Oakland.

In 1998, Ken Griffey Jr. belts No. 30 on the year and joined Mark McGwire as the only player with 30 homers before the break. Alex Rodriguez stole a career-high three bases and joined his second consecutive 20-20 club.